Monday, April 01, 2013

Power-less-ness

A couple of months back we had a power outage. No big deal it was basically five hours and lasted only into the early evening. I know where my candles are, right up there on the mantle with matches right next to them. So I was prepared. I mean this wasn't Sandy or Katrina. However, the experience left me with some questions and a few answers that all pointed to being not very well prepared.

How good was that full charged laptop? Sure the little battery up there in the corner of the screen looks full, but is it? When was the last time you pulled the plug and tested how long the battery actually will run your computer. Mind you, I hope you understand you will only have access to what's on your computer not the internet. You knew that right?

Got a Kindle or other ereader? When was the last time you charged that baby up? As the sunset I was all ready for an evening of Kindle reading, with my handy dandy lamp accessory, now where were the spare batteries for that? And thinking of batteries, why isn't the big flashlight where it's supposed to be? And what about batteries for that one, if I can find it by candle light.

As I mentioned the outage began mid-afternoon but you know that makes no difference if your bathroom has no windows. Think about it.

There's no light in the refrigerator and the longer you stare into it using a candle or the light on your Kindle, well all of that coldness is getting away. Did you really just put that cold cup of coffee in the microwave. No sure, you're right, microwaves aren't the same as electricity.

How about that garage door, you got a back-up battery unit on that? No, well don't worry there's bound to be a hand release lever. You can find it in the dark can't you?

Might I suggest an interesting test for those who Mother Nature has not already gifted with the experience. Get up one weekend morning and pull the main breaker switch. Do it for at least four hours. Try it when the sun goes down. No cheating, if you don't know where the candles are - find them in the dark. Make some notes on what you need to do to be better prepared, you've got one of those pens with a light in it, right?

Don't forget the whole battery situation. Where are they? Are they fresh? Can you change them in the dark? What needs back-ups batteries? Are you in an area where a back-up generator might be a good investment?

Now I know I have readers who will find darkest a good thing, shed the cares of the world. Put aside the to-do list, you can't read it anyway. You're sure you can find things to do without electricity. Can you find the condoms in the dark?

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

The big problem with the garage door releases is that they are very very hard to reach if there is a car in the garage. A solid tip is to devise, ahead of time, some method/tool which will allow you to activate the release. -matty